


Cozy

by glittercat



Category: Jethro Tull (Band)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, I literally don't know why I wrote this, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Sharing a Bed, maybe? - Freeform, nerds being nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 08:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8005519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glittercat/pseuds/glittercat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ian and Martin stay up late writing; Ian has a sorta-weird idea that turns out to be a very good idea. Also: fluffy surprise appearances from a pair of other band members as well. Takes place October ‘76.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1:09 AM

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote Jethro Tull fluff fic bc there's very little of that out there. This is divided into 3 short parts because that seemed like a good way to do it- the last chapter is sort of an extra; taking place separately from the first two. Also: the song Ian is excited about in the first part is Ring Out, Solstice Bells.

_October 20th, 1976_

It's foggy outside when Martin wakes up in the hotel room.   
  
His first thought is that it's too warm. It's the middle of autumn. The heating in the tiny room isn't working all that well. It's not supposed to be warm.   
  
Actually, his first thought is about how he can't actually remember all of what happened last night, other than that there was red wine and a conversation about who's taking the one bed in the room... but the warmth thing is just a bit more noticeable at the moment. It's not necessarily unpleasant, just odd. But definitely not unpleasant. He's not complaining.   
  
His mind wanders back to the issue with the bed.   
  
_Wait,_ he wonders, _so how did we decide that I'd be the one to take the bed?_ Ian wasn't the type of person who would just give something like that up...   
  
As he's trying to recall how that conversation actually happened, he rolls over in an effort to get a bit comfier while he tries to figure things out. Instead of rolling into a pillow, his face meets a mess of tangled auburn waves.   
  
_Well, I guess that answers that,_ he thinks to himself, half confused and half too sleepy to care. But what the hell had happened last night to make the two of them think that sharing a bed would be anything other than a ridiculously bad idea? 

\---

_October 19th, 1976_

"Okay, just listen to this one bit. I think I'm onto something with this. Just- imagine this with bells chiming in the background... Barrie could do that part, and then I could just have this little flute melody going, and-"  
  
"Ian, it's one in the morning. You've been working on this for the past hour and a half. We have a show tomorrow night. You NEED to get to bed, goddamnit."   
  
To be more specific, it's 1:09 am and Martin is still attempting to get Ian to go to sleep. There's an acoustic guitar and a flute and all kinds of notes spread out in front of the two of them, they've made it through most of a bottle of red wine, and at some point in the evening Ian decided to switch his jeans for loose flannel pants.

"Okay! Well. I guess we'll be looking at that tomorrow," Ian gets up from the couch, shuffling sheet music and a flute aside. "So I'll be heading to bed, since you insist." He makes his way over to the bedroom, stepping over the handwritten pages that had fallen to the floor. "Oh, but if I have to sleep, then so do you. C’mon. It’s bedtime."

"Alright, that’s fair. So I guess I'll be in the main room if you need me?" Martin had resigned himself to the fact that he would have to settle for the couch. He didn’t see much use in arguing with a sleepy Ian. Besides, he was exhausted enough that he would’ve slept on the floor if he had to.

"Oh, will you now?" Ian looks back at Martin from the doorway of the bedroom.

"Well, yeah, there’s only the one bed. I just kinda assumed that you’d take that…" Martin replies. "And I’m fine to sleep here. Don't worry about it."

"Hmm, Martin, I don't think so," Ian starts. "Listen, it's been a long day. You need to rest too. I'm not just gonna let you sleep on the couch. Come to bed with me."

Martin considers Ian’s words for a moment… and then starts to regret even pointing out the one bed. He would've been alright with crashing on the couch for the night, and sharing a bed with his lead vocalist seems like the type of thing that may not end well. However, he's tired and feeling stiff from sitting for so long, and he knows that this probably isn't worth the argument, and that bed does look REALLY tempting, and it's just for one night...   
  
"Alright, Ian. Since you insist."   
  
So they climb into the little bed together. Everything about this just feels... odd. Not necessarily bad or wrong or anything like that, but certainly very odd. All Martin can think is that Ian looks so small and vulnerable like this.   
  
Ian has always said that his epic performances aren't an act; that it's all him when he's up there on stage, but he really becomes a different person when he's performing. It's always amazed Martin how reserved Ian is when he's just going about his day-to-day life. When he's deep in thought about a bit of music he's working on, Ian can go for hours without so much as speaking a word to another person. That shy, introverted side of him is something that most people aren't aware of, but Martin notices it often. Seeing his bandmate like this- on the verge of sleep, curled up in the thick hotel bed blankets- emphasizes that how little and quiet he can be at times. Of course, the fact that he's wearing nothing but some plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt definitely plays into that too. 

The two of them sit in silence for a just a moment.

"...You know, Ian, I really am fine with sleeping on the couch."

"That couch looks uncomfortable. You won’t sleep well there."

 _And you suppose I’d sleep better lying next to you?,_ Martin thinks, looking down at the space between them on the bed.

"Yeah. I guess that’s true. Uh, thanks for letting me have the bed tonight… sort of."

"Oh. You’re welcome." Ian pauses. "So, I guess we better not sleep in too late tomorrow, ‘cause I told Barrie that we could all meet up around 3."

The mention of another band member throws Martin off a little, but he can’t quite figure out why. "Oh, uh, alright. That should work out fine."

"Okay, well… goodnight then." Ian rolls onto his side, turning away from Martin.

"Yeah. Goodnight. Uh, sleep well," Martin replies, shutting off the bedside table light.

The faint glow of city lights is still visible through the curtains, and there's a hum of outside noise that's tough to tune out. Martin lies back, trying to keep a sensible distance from his bandmate. _This has to be the most RIDICULOUS thing I've done since joining this band..._ he thinks to himself.

And it really feels like it is. Martin had been through some wild stuff while recording and touring with Tull, but this was something different entirely. He and Ian had become fairly close in their time working together… but they weren't exactly climb-into-bed-together-after-a-long-day close. He began to wonder what had compelled Ian to offer to share the bed in the first place. When they were traveling with the rest of the band, a couple of them would always end up spending the night on the couch (or in armchairs, or, as was the case with John Evans one time, the bathroom floor), so Martin usually just assumed that he wouldn't be taking the bed.

Was it because it was just the two of them this time? Was that why Ian decided that they should share the bed? Maybe he felt like not having everyone else around somehow made this less weird. Or, maybe he simply felt bad for making Martin sleep on the couch yet again. Maybe Ian was just tired enough that ‘invite my lead guitarist into bed with me’ seemed like a sensible idea.

After a while, Martin’s thoughts wander to the radio station interview that he and Ian had to do earlier that day, and to that song that Ian had been working on late into the evening… if it hadn’t been so late at night, he would’ve been eager to hear Ian’s other ideas for the new music. He thinks about the performance that the band has scheduled for tomorrow. He thinks about the parts of the city that might be worth exploring if they have time. He thinks about how, despite how odd tonight’s sleeping situation is, the bed IS really cozy...


	2. 9:14 AM

_October 20th, 1976_

Seven and a half hours later,  Martin wakes up feeling warm and sleepy and very, very confused. His mind races as he tries to remember exactly what happened the night before- they’d stayed up writing for a while, and he had offered to sleep on the couch, and Ian was being stubborn about something…

He turns over on the blankets, still trying to put together the pieces from the night before, and gets a face full of wild auburn hair.

Not exactly the way Martin had expected to start his morning.

He rolls back over and takes a moment to assess the situation. So, clearly, they'd somehow figured that sharing the one bed in the hotel room would be the best option for the night. A couple more little details start to come back to him after a few minutes: he and Ian were meeting up with the rest of the band at 3 o'clock, so Ian didn’t want to sleep in. It doesn’t look very bright outside yet, so Martin figures that they haven’t slept in TOO late. Or, at least, he hasn’t.

Ian appears to still be fast asleep- eyes still closed, lips parted slightly; he’s even managed to nuzzle his head into Martin’s shoulder. He looks perfectly content with all of this. Maybe a little more than content, actually. Martin is used to seeing Ian focused and deep in thought, but it’s not often that he looks so… peaceful.

_Do I wake him up?_ Martin’s not quite sure what to do next. He doesn’t know exactly what Ian’s definition of ‘sleeping in’ is. Based on the soft light coming through the window, Martin guesses that it’s about 8 or 9 o'clock- he’s still too groggy to sit up and check the clock on the bedside table.

After a few minutes of lying in bed and trying to decide what the hell to do next, Martin notices his bandmate begin to stir. Ian moves closer to Martin, sighing softly. He doesn’t seem to have any plans to get up, but his eyelids flutter a little. A moment later he lets out a yawn and opens his still-sleepy eyes.

"Oh. You’re still here. Good morning."

"Um, good morning. Why would I be anywhere other than here…?"

"Hmm, I don't know, I just thought maybe you would've gotten up already."

"I actually just woke up a few minutes ago."

"Oh."

They lie in silence for just a moment before Martin speaks up.

"So, I guess you really didn’t want me on that couch last night."

"Well, I just thought you would get a better sleep here… the bed is certainly big enough for both of us." Ian muses. "And, uh.. I don’t know, I feel like it’s just kinda nice to fall asleep with someone beside me. That’s not something I get a lot of the time, especially not nowadays…"

_Well then,_ Martin thinks to himself. _Ian wanted to share the bed ‘cause he's lonely._ Maybe lonely wasn’t even the right word for it. Maybe Ian just didn’t realize how starved he was for physical contact with another person. Martin can kind of see it- Ian is so good at shutting other people out most of the time. He refuses to let anyone touch him in concert or interview settings, and he's often hesitant to even let the other band members have any sort of contact with him. He's also never shown interest in any, er, romantic pursuits in the time that Martin has known him.

"So- you invited me share the bed with you because you wanted to fall asleep next to me?"

"Um. Sort of. I really would’ve felt bad making you sleep on the couch- you were so tired and it seemed pointless to not share the bed. But yeah, I just figured, since it’s just the two of us… you might have been okay with it…" Ian turns his gaze away. "I’m sorry. That was a bad idea."

Martin has no idea what to say to that.

"Oh. I didn't know you felt that way about… this," he replies after a moment of thought. "You don't have to apologize. I did sleep much better here than I probably would've out there. And I can understand wanting some company through the night, especially when it's just the two of us here."

Ian looks up at Martin with weary hazel eyes.

"Oh. Well, thank you for that. Thank you for understanding. And I’m glad you slept well. Sorry you had to wake up with me, uh, clinging onto your shoulder, though." Ian blushes a little and looks down at the sheets once again.

"Don’t even worry about that,' Martin replies. "Seriously. No need to be sorry. Cling all you want." Ian obliges, clearly still very sleepy. He snuggles into Martin’s side, sighing in contentment. Martin chuckles softly.

"What?" Ian asks, pulling away for a moment to look his bandmate in the eyes.

Martin gives him a soft smile in response. "You just seem so eager. As soon as I mention that you're welcome to cuddle up to me, you just get to it right away."

"You're warm, and I'm still very tired, so you’re a good place to rest."

'Fair enough."

Ian lies back down, this time angling himself in a way that allows him to nuzzle into Martin’s chest. He takes a moment to get comfortable, shifting around in the blankets until he feels he’s achieved adequate coziness. Martin studies Ian’s relaxed figure for a moment. He's still in that odd groggy-and-yet-totally-at-peace space. From his position on the bed, Martin can see that Ian has closed his eyes again- if he didn't know better he would guess that Ian had fallen back asleep. He’s quite sure that’s not the case, though. Ian almost looks like he’s trying hard NOT to fall asleep again. He makes small movements here and there- stretching his long limbs, or brushing a stray curl away from his face. He’ll occasionally snuggle a little closer to Martin, practically gripping the worn sweatshirt that Martin has on.

Martin isn’t sure how to respond to all of this. He rests one hand on Ian’s lower back, gauging his reaction. Ian seems to welcomes the touch. Martin wraps his free arm around Ian, holding him close, and Ian sighs softly in contentment.

The pair stays like this for the better part of the morning. Martin eventually notices the sky getting brighter outside, and a thought crosses his mind.

"Oh, hey, so what time should we actually get up?"

"Hmmm. What time is it right now?" Ian asks.

"Let me see…" Martin sits up to take a look at the bedside table clock. "It’s 11:20. So I don’t know how soon you actually want to get up, if we’re meeting everyone at 3 o’clock…"

"I don’t think I ever want to get up. I’m so sleepy, Martin, can’t I just stay here?" Ian pleads, exaggerating his words a little.

"Well, you’ve gotta get up eventually. We both do… besides, you were the one who was worried about sleeping late in the first place!"

"...That’s true. Okay, can we just stay here for another 10 minutes or so?"

"Sure. I think that should still leave us enough time."

"Okay.’ Ian smiles up at Martin. ‘Ten more minutes it is."

Their ‘ten more minutes’ becomes more like ‘twenty more minutes’, but the pair finally manages to drag themselves out of bed. They get dressed, and tidy up the various instruments and papers from the night before, and get ready to meet up with the rest of the band. After turning the idea over in his mind for a bit, Martin decides to bring up what happened in the early(-ish) hours of that morning.

"Y’know, Ian… if you want to, er, have another morning like that… and I guess another night too, if you felt like it… I would be up for that again."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Good way to spend a morning. You were right about how nice sharing a bed is."  

And he meant every word he said. The idea of cuddling up with one of his bandmates wasn't something Martin had ever thought would be a good idea before- it wasn’t something he’d thought about at all, really- but spending the morning in bed with Ian really had been lovely.

In the eight or so years that they’d been in the band together, Martin and Ian had become quite close. They’d spent countless days recording and rehearsing and performing together, and countless evenings discussing new music and dreaming up new ideas for the band. However, this had been something different completely. This had shown Martin a side of Ian that he’d never seen, and brought the pair closer than they’d ever been before- literally. It was certainly not the morning Martin expected, but better than anything he could've anticipated.


	3. 11:48 PM // Epilogue

_October 19th, 1976_

"So- excited for the drive tomorrow?"

John groans softly and snuggles closer to his bandmate. "Oh yes, Barrie, I'm so looking forward to driving for 5 hours without a break to get to a city I know nothing about. SO looking forward to it." Barrie giggles at his friend's obvious distaste for their situation.

"Oh, come on, it won't be that bad. Are you not used to this by now?" There was sarcasm evident in his voice- Barrie Barlow had never been one for the long-winded travels that often came with their intense lifestyle. By that point, he had resigned himself to the fact that they were necessary sometimes.  
  
"Aw, I don't even wanna think about that. We can worry about the drive tomorrow. I just wanna enjoy this right now."  
  
They were curled up in the double bed in John's flat, clinging onto each other tightly for warmth. They'd shed their clothes from the day- Barrie had on only a pair of boxers and a navy blue housecoat wrapped around his thin frame, and John was wearing a pair of striped pajama pants. The bed provided enough space for the two of them as long as they stayed huddled fairly close together, which neither could find any issue with.  
  
"Oh, I don't blame you." Barrie smiles down at John.  
  
Spending the evening together like this wasn't something the pair was able to do often. Touring and tricky recording schedules and everything else that came with being in a band like Jethro Tull often made it difficult to find any downtime. There was also the issue of what the rest of the band would say if they found out about this. If nothing else, there would be teasing, and Barrie just didn't feel like giving Ian another thing to poke fun at him for.  
  
That didn't mean these nights weren't worth it, though. The pair had become nearly inseparable right from the time John had joined the band, and Barrie could think of no better way to spend an evening than curled up in a cozy bed with the person he felt closest to, not a sound in the air apart from their heartbeats and occasional soft sighs. They exchanged kisses and gentle touches every so often- Barrie running his fingers through John's hair and down his back, or John leaving soft pecks along Barrie's collarbone.  
  
"So," John wonders aloud, after a few minutes of quiet, "How do you think Ian and Martin are doing right now?"  
  
"Hmmm. I'm sure they're just fine out there... I know they had some new material that they were trying to work out harmonies for, so I would think that’d keep them busy?" Barrie really hadn't given much thought to how Ian and Martin were spending the evening- he was more focused on other things at the moment. It wasn't often that their whole group was split up like that, with Ian and Martin being the first ones to arrive in a new place for a performance, and the rest of the band left with an extra day or two of free time to do with what they wished.  
  
"Ooh. interesting. Do you think they're writing anything good for me?" John muses.

"I’m sure they’re writing the most beautiful harmonies for you to sing, and the most beautiful basslines for you to play," Barrie replies.

"Mmm. Lovely."

Barrie wraps his arms tighter around his bandmate, who sighs blissfully in response. After cuddling and talking a little while longer, tiredness gets the better of both of them. The pair drifts off to sleep in each other’s arms, dreaming of playing the new music that they’re both so excited about, and being up on stage together, and sightseeing around the city, and all the other things that they have to look forward to.


End file.
